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Tiny Warwickshire village ‘gathering views’ on proposal that could add 6,000 new homes




RESIDENTS of a south Warwickshire village that might be deluged by 6,000 new homes are being given the chance to publicly vent their feelings on the issue.

The parish council at Bearley has organised a public meeting this Saturday (25th January) for people to air their views because of the enormity of the prospect facing them under the latest ideas being put forward to meet housing needs.

Bearley and Wilmcote are among several locations earmarked in the South Warwickshire Local Plan – covering the districts of both Stratford and Warwick – for the possible creation of what, in effect, would be a new town.

Other places in the Stratford district identified as potential areas for a new settlement of 6,000-10,000 homes are Tanworth, Long Marston Airfield, Wellesbourne/Barford, Knightcote, and Wood End. (Six thousand is the trigger point for added infrastructure, such as a senior school and GP surgery.)

Bearley currently has around 300 homes. Adding 6,000 would increase it 20-fold.

A map showing one of the draft options for a new development. This one would be between Bearley and Wilmcote.
A map showing one of the draft options for a new development. This one would be between Bearley and Wilmcote.

Cllr Richard Le Page, the chairman of Bearley Parish Council, told the Herald that the main purpose of Saturday’s meeting was to find out what the residents thought. “It’s not an action group against the development,” he said. “It’s to find out what the people want. As a parish council we don’t want to make a decision for the whole village. We want to find out what they want.”

Apart from organising the public meeting – which starts at 10am in the village hall – the council will also be setting up a working group of ten or 11 people to find out residents’ concerns. Cllr Page is calling it a “think tank” that can assess every aspect of the controversial idea and people’s reaction to it.

Cllr Le Page said the overwhelming majority of village opinion on Facebook was opposed. But he added: “We want a public meeting for people who are not on Facebook.”

There is absolutely no certainty that land between Bearley and Wilmcote would be selected as a site for such a huge expansion of housing. The Local Plan is in its early stages of consultation and deliberation and is not due to be finalised until 2027.

However, Bearley and Wilmcote, along with Long Marston, have been rated as more suitable than other sites that have been identified in the Stratford district. The two sites in the Warwick district similarly rated are Leamington and Whitnash and Hatton.

Given the Stratford district’s previous experience of suffering unwanted development – where local opinion was over-ruled by the Planning Inspectorate or the government because for a time there was no Local Plan in place – there is particular sensitivity over the effectiveness of people power.

This is especially the case with a new government in office determined to ease planning regulations to allow more houses to be built.



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